Spain’s General Strike Disrupts Transport and Businesses

Spain’s main unions called a 24-hour general strike that began at midnight on Wednesday, disrupting public transport and forcing businesses, factories and shops to cut operations or close.

By Career Ahead AI · Spain — AI-assisted, fact-verified against cited sources. Readers should verify key facts.

The walkout produced mixed accounts of participation

Early incidents included roadblocks with burning tyres in Barcelona and scuffles between picketers and police near Madrid’s main wholesale market. Spain’s interior ministry said dozens of people were arrested for a variety of incidents. Spanish reports also said estate agencies had seen attacks on their offices.^¹²

UGT chief Pepe Álvarez called the strike a success with “massive” participation, while Unai Sordo of the CC OO union described turnout as “very significant.” The Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations gave a different assessment, saying participation was “low and uneven.” The two main unions reported 90% participation in the automotive and port sectors. Power use fell by 7.5% in the early hours; during the previous general strike, equivalent consumption fell by more than 15%.^¹²³

Housing costs and an eviction fuelled the call

The main unions called the strike over housing and the high cost of living. The call followed the eviction of eighty-seven-year-old Madrid resident Maricarmen Abascal from the flat where she had lived for seven decades. She died in hospital weeks later. Average rent in Spain has almost doubled over the past ten years, while a 50-square-metre Madrid apartment averaged €1,170 a month in October. Spain’s average gross monthly salary is about €2,460; that rent equals 98.7% of the average young person’s income, according to the Youth Council of Spain.^¹²³

Power use fell by 7.5% in the early hours; during the previous general strike, equivalent consumption fell by more than 15%.¹²³

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Gonzalo Álvarez, 27, visited picket lines in central Madrid during the walkout. He said Abascal’s eviction at the end of September “was the little fire” that sparked the protest. Álvarez and his girlfriend pay €1,000 between them for rent, adding a personal example to the housing costs driving the strike.^¹²³

Union backing followed demonstrations and a failed housing vote

Public anger over Abascal’s eviction prompted the government to approve decrees containing housing measures. Parliament rejected the measures on Friday, October 2, and mass demonstrations followed the next day. The Tenants’ Union led the October 3 demonstrations under the slogan “toward a general strike.” They included a five-week occupation of Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square. On October 5, hours after Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called an election, UGT and CC OO announced their support for the strike.^¹²³

The unions acknowledged that their call was “unorthodox.” CC OO counted about 4,500 works councils, staff committees and union branches as signed on. The unions also have 228,000 shop stewards, more than two-thirds of the total. A 40dB survey found that 23% of employed respondents said they would strike, while 36.3% said they would not. Workdays lost to strikes had tripled compared with the previous year.^²³

The election timetable sharpened the political dispute

Sánchez called snap elections after parliament failed to approve his housing reform plan, and he and his ministers encouraged workers to stop work and demand affordable housing. Spaniards are due to vote in parliamentary elections on November 29, with the strike falling 18 days before the vote. The timing drew criticism from Miguel Garrido, vice-president of CEOE, who said the action was political rather than labour-related and closely tied to the early election call.^¹²³

PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called the strike “nonsense” and described the unions as “mafia” and “trash.” His party leads the polls. He also called proceeding with the strike a “serious mistake” after a high-speed train collision in central Spain killed sixty-nine people. UGT secretary general Pepe Álvarez argued that “no salary can keep up with the price of housing.” CC OO’s head called housing “this country’s great fault line.”^¹²³

Tenants’ organisers described the strike as a new phase

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Alicia del Río, spokesperson for the Tenants’ Union (Sindicato de Inquilinas), said November 11 marked the start of “a new cycle of struggle” to win gains the country needed. The general strike was called by the main unions and marked their first such call in fourteen years.^¹²³

The unions acknowledged that their call was “unorthodox.” CC OO counted about 4,500 works councils, staff committees and union branches as signed on.

Housing Costs Are a Pay Negotiation Lever

If you are negotiating a salary or a raise in Spain, this strike shows housing costs are now a formal bargaining point. The average rent has almost doubled in a decade, and a 50-square-metre Madrid flat costs €1,170 a month, which equals 98.7 percent of a young person's average income. When you discuss pay, name the gap between your rent and your gross salary, and ask for a figure that covers it. The unions' argument that no salary can keep up with housing prices is now a mainstream position, not a fringe one.^¹²³

For job seekers, the strike signals that housing affordability is a decisive issue in labour disputes, and it can shape which sectors you target. The two main unions reported 90 percent participation in automotive and port sectors, meaning those industries have active, organised workforces that can disrupt operations. If you are choosing between employers, consider whether a company's sector is strike-prone and whether your role would be affected by walkouts. Also, the rise in workdays lost to strikes, which tripled compared with last year, means you should plan for potential service disruptions when making career moves.^¹²³